This invention relates to apparatus for mounting a lamp in a fixture, and more particularly to an apparatus for quickly and easily removably mounting a bulb and reflector assembly in a lamp fixture.
For many years lightbulbs have been mounted in various fixtures for illuminating desired objects and frequently have been mounted in reflectors to enhance and direct the light output from the bulb to the desired objective. This has frequently been accomplished by turning a bulb into a socket which is positioned in the fixture. The socket has frequently had a screw thread type of mounting or a bayonet mounting, as has been well known for many years in the flashlight, automotive and other types of applications. For certain applications, the orientation of the bulb in the reflector and lamp fixture have had to be accomplished very precisely to meet the desired specifications from the standpoint of focusing the light energy, control of chromaticity, or other aspects of the illumination. These devices have worked generally quite well for the incandescent type of lightbulb, but as other types of lightbulbs such as metal halide arc discharge lamp bulbs have become available, the conventional threaded socket mounting has not been suitable. Similarly, the two prong plug-in type of fixture has had limited application in the newer technologies.
With many of the newer type bulbs becoming available in the industry, the operating temperature of the bulb has been greatly increased. In those situations where the bulb burns out for some reason in an instrument that must immediately have the bulb replaced, the conventional mounting of the bulb has presented a problem from the standpoint that the lamp had to be allowed to cool before it could be removed and replaced. This has been, in some situations such as medical instruments and the like, an unacceptable risk. Also, with many new lamps resistance to vibration of the mounting has become important.